We don't talk a lot about DFA on the front page despite all the exciting stuff we all (because who among us isn't a backer, honestly?) have seen shared on the private forums out of respect, but there needs to at least be a thread on the project.

Y'know, I'm sure the game is going to be lights-out excellent and all, but I don't know if the work 2Player Productions is doing isn't going to end up being the more impressive achievement. Their documentary series has been superb so far, and it's definitely a more intimate, educational and compulsively watchable peek at a game's production than I've ever seen before. It's an important project, I think.

Even if I didn't already "know" most of developers involved and therefore had a vested interest in them (the material where they stalked Peter Chan, Scott Campbell and Nathan Stapley to their homes in this latest episode was fantastic), I'd be glued to the screen, but for the likes of us this is captivation cubed. The Double Fine crew is such an ideal group of folks to try this experiment on due the percentage of industry veterans they house, the uncommon charisma of Tim and the independent spirit the studio maintains. Plus it has 100% more Chris Remo than any other game development documentary to date.

It's funny that you start this thread right after Episode 4 is released, because I too feel that this is by far the strongest episode yet (and the others were already great), mainly because of the Peter Chan part. It's funny how I never knew how he looked, or never heard him talk about his work, even after spending so many years of my life surrounded by his artwork.

I've backed $100 to the Kickstarter, and by now I think that the documentary alone is totally worth that. Also they mentioned on the forum that they are estimating it taking up 3 Blu-rays, so it's really going to be massive! I've already suggested on the DF forums that they should take this to Sundance and other festivals, because I'm not sure if there's ever been a similar production, especially in the video game sector (correct be if I'm wrong).

Man, not put time aside to watch any of these yet. Is it the kind of thing I'll really benefit from watching before the game actually comes out, or might it be good to avoid spoilers and enjoy it after I've played the eventual game?

Man, not put time aside to watch any of these yet. Is it the kind of thing I'll really benefit from watching before the game actually comes out, or might it be good to avoid spoilers and enjoy it after I've played the eventual game?

Right now it's not too spoilery, as they haven't figured out enough stuff to spoil anyway. So these first four episodes are relatively safe to watch (and extremely interesting). If you want to avoid early concept art though, don't watch episode 4. But... well... watch it anyway, as it's awesome!

Aside from that there are the "Sidequest" videos (4 for now), which aren't mainly about the DFA, but about the people in the team. You should DEFINTELY watch those. There's one with Tim talking about his time a LucasArts (14 minutes), one about his writing process on FT, Grim etc. (11 minutes) and one massive one of him playing DOTT for the first time after 10 or so years (40 minutes). The last one is about DFA art director Lee Petty.

because I'm not sure if there's ever been a similar production, especially in the video game sector (correct be if I'm wrong).

There is a recent documentary called Indie Game: The Movie. It had a small theater release and it was shown at Sundance (where I think it won something). It's a great documentary, very similar in style to the DFA one. This one is mostly about the finishing stages in development for Super Meat Boy and FEZ. Yet it's also a bit depressing, it makes you wish those guys had gone the Kickstarter way.

The guys at 2P have also been working on a Minecraft documentary, from before DFA. Yet what's truly wonderful about this one, is naturally the fact that we get to see a game from its inception.
I agree that it was wonderful to see Peter Chan, his part of the video was certainly the best. He is like a zen monk and a samurai at the same time. His studio is like a temple. These videos are definitely the biggest reward for being a backer. They should really edit all the material at the end, into a movie.

Yep, I know about that one, and it's VERY good. But I wouldn't put it in the same category as the DFA doc, with the latter one being MASSIVE! (which I was referring to)

I've watched the bits of 2PP's Minecraft documentary that got released and you can clearly see 2PP's style in it. But again, I don't thing there's anything rivaling the size of the DFA doc (again, in the video game sector, as apparently "Planet Earth" and its siblings are yet another caliber).

And regarding a doc about LucasArts... it could be a comedy about the president's chair seeing a LOT of asses.

I agree that DFA is a bigger production than those other games documented, but I wouldn't call it massive at all. And if you are talking about the production of the documentary itself, I really don't see it being all that different from the Indie Game one, they seem to be both very similar small-sized digital productions. And if you compare it with other great documentaries in other areas, it might even pale in comparison. It's cool because of the subject matter, because of the people involved. And sure, it'd be awesome if they turned it into a movie, but I wouldn't have some crazy expectations of it winning an Oscar or something like that.

Of course there won't be an Oscar in it for them, but that's what independent film festivals like Sundance are for ;-)

As I said, of course, there are bigger productions out there, but not in video games. And I don't really want 2PP to turn the doc into a 2 hour movie or something. The 10+ hours the thing is going to have is the way to go here. But that's what sets it apart from "Indi Game: The Movie": It's covering the production of the whole game extensively, without leaving out stuff that would be cut for a shorter movie. But that's what I mean by "massive"... the end result will be huge, even if the production is relatively light.

Then maybe the way to go would be to look for a network that would be interested in making a mini-series, or something. This would make some excellent tv (in fact I've watched this last episode on the TV, looks awesome.)